


Rumour has it

by CaelumBlack



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, University, small town life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-25 14:44:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7536853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaelumBlack/pseuds/CaelumBlack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dealing with life in your hometown after having spent time in prison. </p><p>Or</p><p>Lexa was framed and has to deal with a town that thinks she's a criminal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I - Lexa

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always welcome! If you want you can follow me on Tumblr, no pressure though, name is CaelumBlack, hope to see you there, I'm always available for a chat.
> 
> Found my way to a computer so I changed the layout.

Driving upstate felt strange. Being inside a car felt equally odd. The thought that I was heading home, to the place I’d left behind eight years ago, now that was the most mind-blowing of all. I wasn’t even sure whether I was happy about it. Sure, in a way it was a new start and of course a great opportunity, but if it could have been anywhere else, I would have been a more grateful person. Over the past eight years I’d vouched to myself that no matter what, I would never return back home. Still beggars cannot be choosers, so I’d better deal with my new predicament. Luckily I would be granted with some time to adjust. During my first months, I wouldn’t be allowed to leave the premises of the university. I’d once again be trapped, but it was for my own safety and that of my family. I wondered what would happen if people found out, would they get out their pitch forks and come to Blackwell in unison, trying to smoke me out? The thought made me smile the slightest bit even though it probably shouldn’t.

I wondered whether my mother would be among the crowd, her weapon the sharpest of all. The shame I’d thrown upon her, she still hated me for it. We hadn’t seen each other in years but surely her hatred for me still ran hot through her veins, like lava. No she sure as hell wouldn’t be happy to see me, if I’d run into her in the middle of town, without her knowing I’d returned back to my hometown, she’d surely die of a heart attack. We couldn’t have that of course, my reputation was already bad enough.

My brother had told me once that people still used my name as an example, to warn the children of the town Blackwell to not turn into Alexandra Black. Funny thing, even after the past eight years, I still thought of myself as a bad example if you wanted to warn so-called bad children. However, practically everyone in town was convinced of my wickedness. If they even knew half the story, it would reel their minds. I didn’t blame them for their ignorance, how could they have known the truth, the way the entire story had been twisted to their benefit. I had come out the other end as the bad guy. No, I could not and would not blame them. Those who were to blame would get their punishment eventually. The truth would get out, it always did in the end. Perhaps it hadn’t eight years ago, but it certainly would one day, I’d make sure it did. My name would be cleared, my family honor restored. My mother might even talk to me again afterwards.

A pang in my chest made me bite my lip. Eight years, had it really been that long? I knew from gazing at myself in the mirror that I looked older. I also definitely felt older, but it was difficult to tell exactly how much time had passed by. It could have been a year, yet two decades could have gone by as well. Time was a strange phenomenon, especially where I’d been. Time crawled by in a slug-like pace one day, rollercoaster fast the next.

Though I might have felt unsure about the amount of years that had gone by, I undoubtedly knew it had been eight years. I’d seen the news that morning, paying attention to the date for the very first time. My driver had handed me a paper with the date written in the right, upper corner. I’d even asked him, just to be sure whether all my available sources were telling me the inevitable truth, eight years of my life had been ruined. It really was November the twenty-first of the year 2016, that date meant I’d been gone for eight years, three months and fifteen days. The large amount of time that had passed sometimes made me laugh in disbelief. A third of my life wasted. All the things I could have done, all I could have and would have achieved. Now that I was actually put back into the world, I could no longer laugh. Thoughts of how far I was behind with everything made my head spin.

I forced other, more pleasant thought to the front of my head, already feeling the tenacious tentacles of depression reaching out, trying to get hold of my soul. I couldn’t face thoughts about my scholarship having been given to another, neither would I allow myself to think of their lives having continued like nothing had happened. All that had happened, her betrayal most of all, had nearly killed me. I’d felt dead on the inside for a very long time, wanting to die each day, willing my heart to stop and when that didn’t work, I’d tried different ways, I had the scars to prove it. Looking back, it had taken years to come to grips with what had happened, with how my once golden future had been grounded to dust. As the years went by, I noticed how on most days, I was at peace with what had happened, there was nothing I could change about it after all, on some days however, I was far from all right with the way life turned out to be.

Today, as I was driven through familiar landscapes from my last, I was not okay with all that had been done to me, with the fact that I hadn’t even been able to get my high school diploma. Luckily I’d been able to get it in the years that had followed. Now, thanks to some people who had believed I was innocent, I’d been given another opportunity, to finally get the degree I always wanted. It had always been my dream to work in phylogenetic and thanks to Costia, I’d been given the chance to get that scholarship after all.

Costia Blackwell, of the Blackwell family, founders of both the town and the university. She was a good person to have on my side, to have believing in me. She was the daughter of Blackwell’s current headmaster, who’d had the final say in accepting me or not. Either she loved her daughter very much, or she actually believed me to be innocent as well. It was most likely the first of the two options.

Costia and I had first begun writing after I’d sent my umpteenth letter to the Wrongfully Convicted program. I’d written so many letter to so many lawyers and programs, hoping someone would look into my case. Of all the people, it had to be Costia, someone who’d grown up in the same town as me, who’d probably heard all about my case. Though she hadn’t really been forthcoming about her reasons for taking an interest in my case, she had told me that she believed me to framed. Her first letter came two years ago and had been part of her education, get in touch with a criminal and see if there’s anything you can do for them. Two years later, we still didn’t have much of a case against those who had put me away. I’d been released earlier through good behavior and over-crowding, not because I’d been proven innocent. No, I was still someone with a criminal record. I believed I would be for another while, perhaps even a couple of years. Costia was a promising lawyer, which was to be expected of a Blackwell family member. I dared to bet though that her entire family wouldn’t be happy knowing about her interest in my case.

After two years of regular contact through mail, we hadn’t gotten far with much of anything. I’d told her my side of the story, over and over again, trying to convince her of what had really happened that night, she’d read my letters again and again, trying to find inconsistencies, there were none to be found. I knew where I’d been that night, during the fire and that had been nowhere near the fire. I’d told her everything I knew, trying my hardest to win her over. Later she’d told me she already knew the truth because Anya, her cousin and my high school friend, had convinced her that I would have never done such a thing. 

I might have had a reputation for breaking into places where I wasn’t supposed to be and occasionally taking things that weren’t mine, but Anya had known and understood my reasons, she’d gone along on many of my quests after all. Several times, when we’d both almost been spotted in places where the sheriff wasn’t supposed to find us, I’d made sure that she at least got out unseen, not caring that my friend would go free while I would spend another week or month collecting trash, the entire town either laughing at me or shaking their heads disapprovingly. I’d always protected my friend, she’d had so much more to lose than me. It was only fair. I had taken her along with me on my adventures, she had provided me with things I could never afford, which were vastly more valuable than what I could offer her. So why wouldn’t I protect my friend? It had been one of the only things I had to offer.


	2. II - Lexa

As I sat in the back of Blackwell’s personal car, being driven by the family’s driver, I realized there were nervous butterflies flying around in my stomach. For the first time in years I’d be around normal people. Well, more normal compared to the people I’ve spent the past years with anyway. Would anyone know my name there? Would the student body get out their pitch forks as well once they knew a supposed criminal was walking in their midst? I wondered whether Blackwell’s headmaster would ask me to use a different name, just to keep me safe for a bit. 

I’d been gone for a long time, most people would most likely not remember my face, I was eight years older than most students at the university. Besides, I might have changed as a person, due to the time I got to spend behind bars, but I’d changed physically as well. Not in a mind-blowing way where no one would recognize me any longer, but even when I looked at myself in the mirror, I noticed how I’d become a different person. 

Eight years ago I’d looked younger than I’d actually been, which had its benefits once. Still, over the past years my face had caught up with my actual age, perhaps even surpassing it. Where my features had once been slightly round, like my baby fat hadn’t quite left my body, my face now had a hollow look to it. Perhaps it had something to do with being well fed back then, but the change was quite shocking. I’d grown thinner over the years, losing at least twenty pounds because food had either been really bad or scarce. I’d always thought you’d get food in prison at the least, yet that hadn’t always been the case, especially when you are a sixteen-year-old, inexperienced fool with a big mouth. 

I sat staring outside, trying to avoid my reflection. I couldn’t stand the hollowness of my cheeks, I hated the look in my once bright, green eyes. My eyes were what had shocked me the most, not only the lack of life and brightness in them, but how they had turned from bright green to a dark-green. Somehow, when looking into the reflection of the window beside me, it looked like life had been sucked out of me. All joy was gone, all hope evaporated. I was the embodiment of unhappiness and it scared me. So, perhaps no one at Blackwell would recognize me. I sure as hell hoped so. 

My journey continued toward Blackwell and I slowly but surely began recognizing the landscape around me. I realized we were on the road I’d walked numerous times in order to get where I wasn’t supposed to be. The grounds of Blackwell University were a mystery to most people in town. Not to me though, I’d been in there quite often, illegally of course. Every time I’d felt the need to explore the mysteries of the university, I’d taken it, most often at night, when the students and groundkeepers were asleep. I had liked how the grounds within the walls were forbidden for outsiders, it made going in and getting out unseen all the more fun. 

When the driver found its way through the gates to what most people thought of as a Walhalla for those who craved knowledge, I brightened at the sight around me. I recognized the gravel path that lead to the main building. When the path to the lake came into view my stomach lurched in longing to jump into the clear water. I averted my eyes, knowing I wouldn’t be swimming today, perhaps tomorrow, if I were lucky. I also recognized the part of the wall that had always been my entrance and exit to the premises. It brought a mischievous smile to my face and the nervous anticipation I’d felt each time I’d climbed those walls started to build in my stomach. 

I’d always been quite the adventurer in my younger years and quite the sneaky one at that. I’d explored every street in town, even now I was fairly sure, I’d still find my way to my favourite spots in buildings I’d known inside and out. Looking back, it wasn’t at all odd that my reputation had proceeded me and that people had believed the worst in me to be true. The sheriff had brought me back home kicking and screaming several times when I’d been younger. Mostly for breaking and entering property I wasn’t supposed to go, sometimes he’d bring me in for possessing things I wasn’t supposed to be having in my bag. 

In a small town like Blackwell, my behaviour was unheard of and for apparent reasons unacceptable. My mother was often looked at disapprovingly, like she hadn’t raised me right. It hadn’t been her fault though, I’d just been an explorer, though no one had ever seen it that way, except for Anya. They saw my behaviour as a criminal in the making. Seeing where I ended up, they probably figured they’d seen it coming for years. If only they knew the truth. 

My eight-hour trip had been quite uneventful, boring even, all I’d done was stare outside my window, quietly enjoying the view. Sceneries that I’d been denied for eight years appeared and disappeared and it made me feel more at ease than I’d felt in a very long time. The feeling that I was going somewhere else, far away from where I’d spent so many years, it was a good feeling, no it was a magnificent feeling. Sure, a lot of other feelings joined the mix, like insecurity, a little angst, my usual amount of anger. Still, the positive feelings won over the bad today and that was more than I could have wished for. 

My driver had been quiet, only answering my question about what date it was. He hadn’t even offered his name. After shooting question number five at him, whether he knew Costia, I stopped trying. I remained curious about the answer, figuring he did know her, since Costia was part of the Blackwell family tree, yet he probably knew about my past and wasn’t happy about taking me anywhere, let alone the university grounds. Costia had probably grown up there and I wondered whether I’d ever seen her. We had only been in contact through letters and I had no idea what kind of person she really was. In her letters she’d come across as passionate about the law and injustice, headstrong in her conviction that I was innocent, serious about her studies. Her way of writing had been business-like, never casual or witty. It made sense of course, for in a way, I was her client, if not officially just yet. So I understood why she’d kept it all professional. 

I was still curious about her of course. I still wondered what kind of person she was, just like I kept asking myself why she, of all people, had chosen my case. With her name she had an edge, but at the same time, she’d be pissing off a lot of important people that meant a lot to the Blackwell community. The local surgeon, Arkadia High School principal, the sheriff, the mayor. Would her family stand behind her? Believe in my innocence because she did? I’d been accepted to Blackwell University so surely she’d convinced someone. Her father maybe? An uncle? I wasn’t even sure who was the head of the university at the moment. Back then it had been her granddad but eight years were a long time and a lot could happen in a lot less time. 

The driver parked the car at the back of the main building, several other cars are parked there as well, fancy cars that probably belong to rich students or perhaps staff members. The driver, a big, burly man with a stern face, got out and opened the door on my side of the car. I got out with some difficulty, my limbs stiff from sitting in the same position for the past three hours. It had been a long drive, nine hours in total, with only two stops. The driver had needed them more than me, I had gotten used to holding my needs. 

The gravel underneath my feet crunched as I moved around the car to grab my luggage. Well, luggage was a strong word to describe the backpack. I didn’t own much, now I’d never really owned a lot of things, but nowadays, all that belonged to me could be fit in one backpack. When unpacking later I’d find a grey sweater I’d bought in prison, two books that had kept me sane, deodorant, two pairs of white sports socks and my most precious belongings, two bundles of letters. The first stack had come from Aden and was thicker than the second. Both bundles were bound by hairbands. Aden’s stack contained a lot, newspaper articles he thought I’d liked, drawings from his younger years, he’d been eight when I’d been sent away, the older he got though, the more thought he began putting in what he sent me. His letters became longer and the content more interesting. He’d been my only constant factor over the past eight years, he’d been my rock, my reason to live, even when I wanted to die. 

The second bundle of letters belonged to Costia, they were stacked orderly, her first letter on the bottom and her last on top. It had been one of the few things I’d had control over during the past few years. I thought of those stacks of words and felt my features soften, those letters had been my only reason for hope. On days when the world around me had seemed too cruel, too rotten, I’d read the letters, trying to escape the dreadful reality I found myself in. 

Where Aden’s envelopes had contained words of loss and missing, a life incomplete without me by his side, Costia’s had embodied the possibility that one day, I might lead a different life, a better one. Aden’s words were infinitely more valuable though, both written and spoken. He’d only visited me once in all those years, having saved up every dollar for the trip that would take him through four states. My mother hadn’t wanted to take him so he’d come himself, not too long ago. The day he’d turned sixteen he’d used his money to visit me, not interested in spending it with our mother or with his friends, he wanted to see me. I guessed that was what you got when you dedicated every single phone call to one person. 

Every Wednesday between six and six-thirty, I’d called him for about five minutes, firing every possible question at him that I could think of. My sole reason for talking to him had been to find out how he was doing, what was happening in his life, whether he was getting good grades and making friends. Most important, whether he was safe from harm. He’d always been a happy child with a pure heart and I’d been afraid that my going to prison would change him for the worse. 

My mother and I had talked only twice. Once when I had arrived at the prison, to tell her I was all right. I hadn’t bothered trying to convince her that I’d been framed, I’d tried to tell her a hundred times and she hadn’t believed me. I’d always wondered whether she would have believed me would she have been my biological mother. Aden told me it had nothing to with that but more with how I’d spent my time becoming the criminal Blackwell had never had. The second time I’d spoken to her, was when Aden had gotten himself into trouble. She screamed at me through the horn, that her precious son was at the sheriff’s office because of me. Of course she’d blamed me. Why blame him or herself. Better to blame the person who literally had nothing to do with what had happened, who was locked away a thousand miles away. 

My brother might have gotten himself into trouble, I’d still been proud of him. Mostly because for the very first time he’d done something he shouldn’t have. He’d stolen a bag of chips on a dare. Naturally, he’d been caught, him being the most ostentatious person in existence. The week after, when I’d called him, he told me he’d been grounded for a month and that being a criminal was not for him and he’d think a little harder next time when someone dared him to do something stupid. It had only made me laugh, he might have been my biological brother, he sure as hell had not inherited my adventurous side.


	3. III - Lexa

“Miss, follow me please,” the driver said in the most unenthusiastic way I’d ever heard anyone say anything. 

I followed the man to a door that was located on the left side of the main building. I noticed how he went in without a key, now that was good information to possess. We went through the dark-green doorframe of what probably once was a servant’s entrance and ended up in a clinically white hallway. White doors lined the hallway left and right. A deep desire to explore what was hidden behind those doors, began to build inside my stomach. It was a feeling I hadn’t felt in a long time and it made me feel a little more like myself, like the person I’d once been. I kept my curiosity in check, for the time being at least and rushed after the driver whose legs were twice as long as mine. The hallway ended up at the main entrance of the building. Gigantic stairs stood regally in the middle, providing me with a way to explore the second story of this building. Of all the terrain I’d seen, this building was one of the few I hadn’t been able to enter. 

I expected the stoic man to go upstairs, but he passed them without giving them a glance. He must have passed this monstrosity countless times so he probably wasn’t amazed by the sheer size of the thing. He headed into another hallway, more doors left and right, on at the end of the hallway. We didn’t run into any people during the three-minute trip through the main building. In a way I was glad about it, the thought of actually running into people made me nervous. We came to a halt at the last door of the hallway and I heard a loud knock, rather than I actually saw it. The man in front of me blocked most of the view. He opened the door after a voice I couldn’t hear apparently told him to come in. He poked his head around the door, his frame still blocking my view.

“Miss Black has arrived,” he stated simply. 

“Let her in Gustus,” a female voice answered. 

A female headmaster? How had I immediately thought there would be a man waiting for me on the other side of that door? Had my thought pattern been changed so severely over the past eight years? I felt like I was stuck in the nineties. The driver, who was named Gustus apparently, turned around and moved past me, looking me over once before walking back the way we’d come without a word. I wasn’t sure whether I should yell some sort of thank you after him or not. I decided against it, he probably wouldn’t appreciate it anyway. 

My feet felt heavier than usual when I made my way into the headmaster’s office. Dark-wooden furniture took up most of the space inside the room. The walls were practically invisible, instead, everywhere I looked, row upon row of books lined the walls, stealing even more room from the already cramped office. There was too much furniture in it, the desk was gigantic and the chairs also took up way more space than necessary. It made me feel uncomfortable, trapped and slightly on edge. The urge to turn around and leave the possibility to study here behind me. Naturally I didn’t leave. I closed the door behind me and turned toward the desk where a curious face took me in. 

The woman was younger than I thought any headmaster ought to be. She was probably somewhere in her early thirties and as was a Blackwell family trait, she was attractive in an obvious way. I’d known several Blackwell kids when I went to Arkadia. All with dark hair and light eyes, all were intelligent, athletic and headed toward a grand future, since they all belonged to a good and wealthy family. It made sense of course, they were the founding family of Blackwell after all and had done a lot for the community. They had built the University of course, they had also invested a lot of money into Arkadia High and the local sports clubs and library. If you were born a Blackwell, you were automatically ahead of the rest of the world. 

“Alexandra Black, welcome, my name is Luna Blackwell. Headmaster of Blackwell University,” she began, getting up and offering her hand like we were equals. 

I took her hand in mine and shook it, more out of politeness than actually wanting to. I still felt uneasy about being here in this office. I felt out of place, not used to the grandness of the building I found myself in. The woman in front of me, with her perfectly applied make up, her carefully picked out clothes, her blaze alone was obviously more expensive than everything I owned. The entire situation made me feel unworthy, the feeling of her hand in mine, of being here in general. It was a strange realization, one I hadn’t felt my entire life. Before going to prison I’d never felt unworthy of anything in my life. I’d known I was a bit of a rebel, but at least I had been intelligent, I’d been accepted to Blackwell and that wasn’t a university where just anyone could come knocking. 

“Pleasure to meet you and thank you for accepting me into Blackwell and please call me Lexa,” I replied before releasing her hand and sitting down in the antique chair that was softer than it appeared at first sight. 

A polite, small smile was her answer, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. I realized she probably wasn’t that happy about me being here. I folded my hands together and put them in my lap, staring down at them like there was something interesting to be found between them. 

“I’m guessing that you’re not entirely happy about me being here,” I said softly, unable to look up, fearing to read the answer in her eyes, afraid of finding disgust there or perhaps even hatred. 

“Not particularly no.”

“I take it you don’t believe me to be innocent?”

“No, I do not.”

“So, why am I here then?” I asked. 

“Because my niece believes in you, as do two of my most valuable teachers and their opinions mater to me.”

I knew Costia believed in me, didn’t know she was the headmaster’s niece though, but two teachers? I’d known about professor Kane, he’d been guiding and mentoring Costia for the past couple of years, helping her with my case. She’d been able to convince him during her first year, that much I knew. Still, who in the world was the other teacher? 

“Costia is your niece?” I asked, looking up and finding a proud glittering in her eyes to answer my question.

“Yes,” she confirmed. 

I looked down again and my fingers found a loose thread at the hem of my t-shirt. It annoyed me and I felt like pulling at it, ripping at it until my entire t-shirt unravelled by my own hands. Since it was the only t-shirt I owned, I decided against it. 

“May I ask why you don’t believe that I was wrongfully accused?”

Luna looked at me while chewing the inside of her bottom lip for a moment. “Because when I grew up, I heard all about your escapades. You visited the sheriff’s office more often than Tipsy Thelonius. Besides, if I would believe you, I would also believe that the most influential people of this town framed you. You can probably understand that that would be a very foolish thing to do, openly come out with that opinion.”

Her mentioning the nickname made me snort a little. Everyone in town knew about Tipsy Thelonius. After his wife had died he’d reached for the first bottle of gin he could find and hadn’t stopped drinking since. He’d been a nice guy though, always friendly and ready for a chat. He hadn’t been an angry drunkard, just a sad and lost one. As for the framing thing, of course it would be foolish for the Blackwell family to openly spout their opinion, their name might have a lot of influence in this town, the other four combined were not to be messed with either. 

“Yeah, I guess my reputation did proceed me. So why accept me at all, you are in charge here, you didn’t have to. You could have overruled anyone. You probably know that once those people you referred to, find out that I’m going here, you will hear about it and not in a positive way.”

Luna continued to stare at me, drumming the edge of the desk with her fingers. Then she leaned to the left, opened a cabinet in her desk and got something out. For a little while she looked at it, then threw it on the surface between us. I looked at it curiously, recognizing it the minute I read the words on the front page. It was the research proposal I’d written nine years ago in order to get into Blackwell. 

As a kid, I’d always been into physics and biology. I had therefore written a proposal about Phylogenetics, which had resulted into me getting a scholarship. I’d been sixteen years old when I’d gotten the news. I was sent to prison only a couple of months later. 

“One of my teachers claims to know you from Arkadia. She studied here and then continued to work here as a teacher and researcher. Beside Costia and Marcus Kane, she also believes you to be innocent and told me you’d be an asset to the university. She says that you are the reason she went to Blackwell in the first place and because of her our science department is now one of the best in the country. She wants to work with you personally, because she feels like she owes you. She wants to be your teacher and mentor.”

While Luna spoke, I racked my brain trying to figure out who she was speaking of. Only one name came to mind. Anya. But she hadn’t been accepted into Blackwell, she hadn’t even wanted to go there. So who else could it have been? 

“As for your personal rules and schedule. For the next month you are not to leave the premises, unless I give you permission personally and at this point I don’t see why I would. So every morning from seven to eight-thirty you can have breakfast in the main hall. You will get a tour later, though I hear you’ve thoroughly explored the grounds of Blackwell already,” Luna said, looking at me curiously again. 

I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I have, not the buildings though, I never dared to go in.”

Luna chuckled softly, but caught herself, realizing she wasn’t supposed to find that funny. She looked away, putting a hand in front of her mouth to muffle the sound and put her more stern expression back into place. 

“Anyway, your first classes start at nine and last until lunch is served from noon to one. At one your next classes start, which will end until two-thirty. You’ll have a thirty minute break before you have to be at the research lab. You will work on personal projects or group projects until nine and you’ll have the possibility to have dinner between six and eight. This schedule is for Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Are you still with me?”

I nodded. I’d already known all of this from one of Costia’s latest letters. 

“Then, on Thursdays your schedule is mostly the same, except for the afternoon, you will not have class, instead you will go to the research lab and work until three. Then you are allowed to go into town and get some of the things you might need or have a cup of coffee. You can even go to the lake and swim, it’s free time and you get to spend it however you like it. So, then, Fridays. It’s a lot like Thursdays, except you will work in the lab until four, after that, you are allowed to go home. Most students go home for the weekend. Like I said before, you are not to leave Blackwell during the first month, so no exploring outside the walls. It will not be appreciated. We’re taking a chance with you and we’d like you to not ruin it. So, if at any point, you feel the urge to do something you’re not supposed to, remember how there’s three people here who vouched for you.”

I nodded once more. “I understand. Believe me though, my need to explore has lessened during my years in prison. Everything I used to be, everything that defined me as a person, such as my need to explore and go on adventures, has evaporated, I am no longer the person I used to be. So you can expect someone who knows how to work hard, someone who knows how to be alone, to go about her life without getting noticed. It’s how I spent my last eight years. I don’t want to go back there, I want to be here and finally do what I was supposed to be doing once I’d finished high school. I am not here to fuck around.”

Luna nodded slowly. “Can you tell me what happened that night?”

“I’m sorry but no, I’ve discussed it with Costia, very thoroughly. She’s told me that I am to tell no one else. All I can tell you is that I wasn’t there when it happened. Five girls who hated me got out without a scratch, don’t you think that if I really wanted to hurt them, any of them, I would have done it in that way? I was invited, to supposedly make amends with four girls who were jealous of my friendship with Clarke. I might have liked to go into buildings I wasn’t supposed to, but I wasn’t the kind of person who’d try to murder people. I’d never hurt a fly in my life. I am still not that person, nor will I ever be.”


	4. IV - Lexa

A knock on the door made us both look at the door. I sat in a strange angle, looking at the wooden door over my shoulder, wondering who could be knocking. 

“Come on in,” Luna said in a raised voice. 

The door opened and a familiar face appeared. Anya. She’d aged, but in a good way, she was attractive, way more attractive than she had been when she’d been in high school. Her features were more mature now, female shapes had taken form, she really was the definition of a woman. Which was something I’d never seen reflected in the mirror. She was tall and lean, her hair lighter than I remembered. She’d probably dyed it a couple of shades lighter. 

Her eyes found me and a mischievous grin formed on her face, her eyes gleaming. “Hello.”

“Oh my god, I wasn’t sure whether it’d be you, but here you are,” I said, my smile matching hers. 

“This was such a mistake, how did I let you talk me into this Anya,” I heard Luna say, my eyes still focussed on Anya but I was pretty sure she was shaking her head. 

“Get up you and give me a hug,” Anya grinned. 

I did as she told me and found myself wrapped in her arms within a matter of seconds. I hugged her back, albeit a little hesitantly, I hadn’t hugged anyone in a very long time. Anya noticed. “Hug me back, you fool.”

I laughed before wrapping my arms around her tighter. “Asshole.”

We let go a little after that and stared at each other. “You look horrible Lex.”

“Why, thank you so much for that compliment.”

“No, but really, I’d always thought you’d turn out to be hotter than me, but here we are and I have become the hot one.”

“You are still an ass I see.”

“You are right about that,” Luna said, a hint of a smile on her face. It made me wonder whether they were friends besides cousins. She had said her opinion mattered to her after all. 

“It’s good to see your face again Lex, really. I’ve missed you so much. I’m sorry I never wrote you, but your mother wouldn’t give me the address of the prison and no one else seemed to know. I only found out about your contact with Costia a month ago, when Luna here came asking me questions about you.”

Anya gestured for us to take a seat in the chairs opposite Luna. I took my former seat and my high school friend sat down next to me elegantly. Of course she had to be attractive and elegant. It nearly made me smile. If there was anyone on this planet I wished to be happy and attractive and successful in life, it was her. 

“How have you been? How was prison? Adventure of a lifetime?” Anya asked, the look on her face a mixture of curiosity and doubt. Like she wasn’t really sure whether she was supposed to ask me about it. 

“Well, it was a different kind of adventure, let’s keep it at that.”

Anya looked away, like she’d overstepped by asking me. It wasn’t that necessarily. The truth was that I was ashamed of having spent eight years in prison, that it hadn’t been an adventure. I’d felt unsafe most of the time, many nights had been spent awake. I’d even developed some form of insomnia. I had believed it would be difficult to spend time in jail, but as a sixteen-year-old, it was infinitely worse. I didn’t want to think about it any longer, so I shook my head, trying to make them disappear. 

“Sorry Lex, I was just trying to lighten the mood.”

I flashed a tight smile, both my hands gripping the edge of the chair until my knuckles turned white. “It’s all right, don’t worry about it.”

“So, Anya, I asked you to give Lexa a tour. Also, I’d like you to take her to her new room,” Luna said, addressing Anya before turning to me. “You’ll get room two-o-seven, a private room. I take it you gave your other luggage to Gustus?”

I stared at my hands once my, my knuckles having turned back to their original colour. “I don’t have anything else.”

“You don’t have any clothes?” Luna asked.

“Nope,” I replied, feeling my blood rushing to my cheeks. 

“Oh. Right, I should have realized, I’m sorry.”

I looked up, shrugging my shoulders. “It’s all right.”

“I’ll just take her into town tomorrow, we can get her some stuff,” Anya said. 

Luna thought about that for a moment before nodding. “Do it discreetly though, people don’t need to know that she’s back just yet.”

“Will do, I’ll give her a cap or a beanie or a some glasses and a funny nose,” Anya smirked, raising a snort from me. 

Luna shook her head. “You two are insufferable. Now, Lexa, do you have any other questions for me?”

I still had a million questions I wanted to ask, but figured I could get most answered by Anya. “Uh, yes, where can I get my books?”

Luna looked at Anya again. “Anya will take you to the bookstore tomorrow, she’ll get you what you need, she knows better than I do anyway. She’ll also get you a laptop, which you can borrow from the university. Since she offered to mentor you, she’ll get you set up with an account and wifi. Costia will be there to help you as well, I believe.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, if there’s anything else, my door is always open.”

“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Anya got up beside me, looking at me with gleaming eyes. “Let’s explore.”

“Anya, stick to the rules, you wouldn’t want to be the reason that Lexa gets kicked out.”

Anya laughed. “She won’t be kicked out, I’ve just really missed our adventures.”

Luna shook her head again. I felt a little lighter since having stepped into this office. Anya’s presence already made this situation a little bit better. She had been my only real friend during high school, not counting Clarke, but I wasn’t really sure yet what we’d been. There was a time where I’d thought we were friends, until she sold me out along with the rest of her friends. I wondered whether she still lived here or whether she’d pursued her career in art. I shook the thoughts from my head, thinking about this would do nothing to improve my mood. 

“All right, let’s get going Lex, there’s a lot I need to show you.”

We both got up and I watched my former best friend get up graciously, she really had grown into an attractive woman. Not in a ‘god I could fall for you’ way of course, but she looked good, happy. I wondered whether her parents were happy about her working here at Blackwell, keeping the family honour alive and kicking. Back when we’d been young, her parents had hated me, my reputation had been horribly proceeding and even the Blackwell family had been aware of my escapades. Despite them living on the outskirts of town, as the founding family, they had been involved in a lot of events that were organized in the town, but also the high school. Their yearly donations made sure they were never left out when it was decision-making time. 

“We’ll start here, in the main building,” Anya said and she seemed genuinely happy to be around me again. It felt strange, not a lot of people had been happy to be within my close proximity over the past eight years. 

Before we left the office I turned around once more, addressing Luna, who sat leaning back into her office chair, staring at me with an unreadable look on her face. In that moment I wished I could figure out her thoughts, afraid that she might think it was a big, fat mistake to allow me into Blackwell. The thought had crossed my mind regularly, I really wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to be back here, this close to home. Nonetheless, I figured it would be best to remain polite. “Thank you for everything.”

She replied with a simple nod, her expression still unreadable. It made me feel worse than it probably should have.


End file.
